Shabbat Shira D'var
The ancient Egyptians believed in a great cosmic balance above all things. As much as they lived, and celebrated a vibrant cycle of hedonistic festivals in honor of their pantheon, life was balanced with an equally lush and celebrated afterlife. The light of day brought order, and the darkness of night was a time of chaos. Their great god Osiris went on a journey of birth, life, death, and rebirth every day. He followed the sun god Ra through various worlds until he was resurrected with the dawn of sunrise to begin the journey all over again.
In Egyptian mythology, when you die, your heart is weighed by the god Anubis against the feather of Ma’at, the talisman of divine order. If your heart was in balance with Ma’at, Anubis ushered you to follow Osiris on his journey through the afterlife to end up in Paradise. While Osiris is reborn each day, you stay in this Paradise. This Egyptian Paradise, this end-of-the-line world-to-come, is described as a Field of Reeds.
In our mythology, our ancient ancestors find themselves trapped on the shore of a Sea of Reeds. Their faith that there is an even greater order to the Universe than Ma’at’s feather, allows them to cross through this Sea of Reeds. The Egyptians however can go no further than the limits of their own beliefs. They are stuck at the end of their line in their Field of Reeds. If the Ten Plagues were an admonition against the Egyptian pantheon, the crossing of the Sea of Reeds is an even greater admonition. The Israelites walk right through the very heart of the Egyptian belief system to set off into a wilderness to find a new way of Being.
On the History of Egypt Podcast, the host, Dominic Perry, often reads ancient Egyptian prayers, holy texts, and spells. They are remarkably similar to our own. However, those prayers, holy texts, and spells are no longer being heard. Their magic is blown away like so much desert sand. They have been relegated to academics and literary curios. However, our prayers, holy texts and spells are still alive and Being heard every day, and every year, dor l’dor. Every day, we still sing the song our mythic ancestors sang after passing through the Sea of Reeds. Mi khamokha ba’elim Adonai? Who else is like you among the other gods, Adonai? Mi kamokha nedar bakodesh? Who else is deserving of holiness? And this is why our Torah portion says: "Moses and the Children of Israel sang: 'I will sing to Being, in glorious triumph.'" Our song willbe heard dor l'dor and l'olam va'ed... generation to generation and throughout all space and time.